Scout helps Bear Creek fire station with land improvements

Jared Brandt earns Eagle Scout rank for his efforts

Eagle Scout Jared Brandt oversaw the clearing of a swath of land near the Bear Creek Fire Station 75 and replaced it with low water low maintenance greenery and plants, including new irrigation.
— Don Boomer

Eagle Scout Jared Brandt oversaw the clearing of a swath of land near the Bear Creek Fire Station 75 and replaced it with low water low maintenance greenery and plants, including new irrigation.
— Don Boomer

A swath of land that flanks Fire Station 75 in Bear Creek is no longer sporting overgrown brush and a barely working sprinkler system thanks to the efforts of 14-year-old Jared Brandt, who improved the land to earn his Eagle Scout rank.

Jared, a freshman at Heritage High School, took on the effort last summer, inspired in part because he wanted to find a positive project that benefitted the community and the environment, but also because he wanted to help his father, a fire captain at the station.

“I asked him if he needed any improvements at the station, he told me a list of things, and I chose the irrigation (project),” Jared said.

To launch the effort, Jared collected donations and supplies from family, firefighters and local businesses, noting the sprinklers that water the land before the project had seen better days, and he needed new materials to upgrade the system.

“The pipes needed to be redone, they were old and falling apart,” he said. “And we needed to put in some new plants.”

Last July, Jared along with about a dozen volunteers -- including family members, friends, fellow Troop 444 Scouts and some firefighters -- tackled the improvements at the station, which is surrounded by chaparral-covered hillsides in a rural area west of Murrieta.

They uprooted the overgrown shrubs, removed the old pipes and sprinklers, installed a new irrigation system, and completed the project by planting low-maintenance plants.

“Before it looked like a lot of dirt and weeds, and after it was all cleaned up and green,” Jared said.

Jared joined Scouting in first grade and earned his Eagle Scout rank in July. He remains active in the program as well, and he is president of Venture Crew 444, he said.

He said he enjoys his time in Scouting, and that it’s taught him a lot, including responsibility, leadership and survival skills.

“It’s a great influence that keeps kids out of trouble and it’s really fun,” he said.